Scheduled for Psychology I Free Communications, Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM, Convention Center: 150DEF


Body Dissatisfaction in Young Adults: A Reversal Theory Perspective

Dean Culpepper, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, River Falls, WI and Lorraine E. Killion, Christus Health, Houston, TX

Body image is a complex synthesis of psychophysical elements that are perpetual, emotional, cognitive, and kinesthetic (Thompson, 1999). Body Dissatisfaction focuses on body build and is often operationalized as the difference between ideal and current self selected figures (Candy & Fee, 1998). The majority of research has focused on two areas: the relation between body image and eating disorders and the prevalence of body image problems in the population (Thompson, 2001). Few studies have examined whether a person's personality and motivation are related to body image issues. Reversal Theory is a general psychological theory proposed by Smith and Apter (1997) that is applicable to all domains of human behavior and experience including motivation, emotion, and personality. Reversal Theory has applications across a wide spectrum of behavior where individual's motivation is crucial. Yet it allows for exploration into what individuals desire, their emotional makeup, and differences among individuals (1997). RT is about the structure of conscious human experience and consists of eight metamotivational states that combine in various ways to determine one's motives and experiences. The purpose of the present study was to determine if a particular metamotivational state profile, measured by the Apter Metamotivational Style Profile (Apter, 1999) was related to body dissatisfaction measured with Stunkard Figures. In this study, 158 college students (females =93 and males = 65) participated. A MANCOVA was conducted controlling for gender. The analysis indicated that there was no significant relation for males, but there was a significant relation (Wilks' Lambda =.435, p = .003) for two metamotivational states in women: Conforming, F (5, 85) =3.83, p = .004 and Mastery, F (5,85) = 2.95, p = .017. A logistic regression was then conducted with gender, conforming subscale, and mastery subscale as determinants for body dissastisfaction. The analysis indicated that for every unit increase on the Mastery and Conforming subscales the individual is 1.18 and .95 times more likely to be dissatisfied with their body, respectively. Regarding gender, women are 40% more likely to be dissatisfied with their body than men. These results indicate that women who are High Conformists (comparing themselves to other women and the social norm) and High Mastery (concerned with admiration and seeing life as a contest) are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body. Identifying metamotivational state profiles regarding body image allows researchers to study motives that are primarily about one's own personality and feelings of selfhood and identity.
Keyword(s): college level issues, research

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